After years of debate surrounding the professionalization of amateur sports — particularly among college athletics — college athletes were finally permitted in 2021 to be paid for their name, image, and likeness. This ended the era when student athletes could face suspensions for accepting so much as a sandwich.
The legislative changes allowed athletes to build NIL portfolios with various outside entities and brought the return of the popular EA Sports College Football 25 video game, to the delight of college football fans. These deals might entail the athletes appearing in commercials or promoting brands on their social media accounts with sponsored posts.
Thanks to deals with Adidas, Bose, C4 Energy, and UM's NIL collective Canes Connection, Ward sits at No. 6 in the nation's football NIL rankings with an NIL valuation of $2 million, according to On3 Sports.
Topping the list are Colorado Buffaloes quarterback Shedeur Sanders at $6.1 million, his teammate Travis Hunter at $3.3 million, and Texas quarterback Arch Manning at $3.1 million.
Ward comes in at No. 11 on the NIL 100 list, which includes athletes across various sports and high school stars.
Cam Ward is one of many UM athletes reportedly raking in money for NIL deals, a list that includes his football teammates along with members of the men's and women's basketball teams, notably the famous Cavinder twins. The athletes are able to secure many deals through the athletics department's robust NIL collective, which On3 ranks as the No. 5 collective in college sports, up there with athletics powerhouses and large public universities.
Below are the ten UM athletes making the most NIL money, based on On3's NIL valuations:
1. Cam Ward, football: $2 million
Notable deals: Adidas, Bose, C4 Energy, Canes Connection (collective)
2. Jalil Bethea, basketball: $1.3 million
Notable deals: Klutch Athletics by New Balance, Canes Connection (collective)
3. Haley Cavinder, basketball: $889,000
Notable deals: Under Armour, Slate Milk, Intuit TurboTax
4. Tyler Baron, football: $878,000
Notable deals: Canes Connection (collective)
5. Hanna Cavinder, basketball: $863,000
Notable deals: Under Armour, Slate Milk, Intuit TurboTax
6. Xavier Restrepo, football: $703,000
Notable deals: Canes Connection (collective), Hollister, Lifepro, Dyme Lyfe, Adidas ambassador
7. Francis Mauigoa, football: $596,000
Notable deals: Canes Connection (collective), Dyme Lyfe
8. Rueben Bain, football: $539,000
Notable deals: Canes Connection (collective)
9. Damien Martinez, football: $465,000
Notable deals: Canes Connection (collective)
10. Simeon Barrow Jr., football: $416,000
Notable deals: Canes Connection (collective)
